That "In-Between" Stage

The only predictable thing in feeding your baby is knowing that things will change. For weeks your baby seems to prefer bananas, then refuses all but applesauce. Once you’ve stocked the cupboard with his favorite stage 2 foods, he refuses them and reaches for the food on his big brothers plate. For a baby it’s all about growing up and moving on. That’s why it’s good to try and be one step ahead. Here is some information and healthy hints to help:

• At about the age of seven to nine months, most babies begin to have a more mature chewing and swallowing ability.
• A baby needs to develop this new ability through practice
• Foods that are thicker in consistency and chunkier in texture are the best foods to help him practice with.
• Baby’s who aren’t introduced to chunkier foods during this window of opportunity often have a more difficult time learning to eat table foods later on.
• Third Foods were developed to help babies learn how to chew and swallow more ‘grown up’ foods. They have more sophisticated flavors, a thicker consistency and more ‘chunks’.
• They are a bridge between baby foods and table foods.
• Third Foods usually come in larger serving sizes to accommodate baby’s growing appetite.
• Third Foods are generally appropriate for babies from the age of seven to eight months and older.
• Moving on to table foods is the natural next step. Be careful not to get stuck in Stage Three foods for lack of a pre-packaged next stage. To help you and your baby make the move to table foods focus on those flavors your baby enjoyed in infant foods when first introducing table foods. For example, if your baby loves carrot puree, offer some tender cooked small bits of cooked carrot from the table.
• You don’t have to go cold turkey. Generally a combination of baby foods and table foods will make a nutritious combination well into the early toddler months. For example, some small bits of tender ripe avocado or banana would make a good side to a dinner of Earth’s Best Tender Chicken and Stars or Earth’s Best Sesame Street Organic Alphabet Pasta can be a nutritious accompaniment to your child’s favorite jarred vegetable.
• Even after moving on to table foods, keep an iron fortified infant cereal part of the morning routine. The iron in infant cereal is well absorbed and is important for optimum brain and nerve development for the next several years.
• Babies tend to become pickier eaters as they grow older. Therefore, make sure to establish a wide variety of foods in their diet as early as possible. Earth’s Best Baby foods offer an extensive line to help build a nutritious and complete diet.